Oregon’s JCT Expanding WAVE Wireless Depot Charging Program

WAVE, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Ideanomics, announced Josephine Community Transit (JCT) expanded its original order from a single charger to four 125kW depot chargers in Grants Pass, Oregon.

In addition to installing WAVE's wireless charging system, Ideanomics Energy will manage all construction related to deploying the depot charging systems.

"Having run our electric buses with plug-in chargers for a few years now, we've experienced first-hand the challenges of managing cables," said Scott Chancey, transit manager at JCT. "Replacing plugs-ins with WAVE will allow us to expand our fleet within our existing space while bringing park-and-charge simplicity to our depot operations."

Transit agency space and labor constraints become more pronounced as they scale from small trial stages to operating an entire electric fleet. Plug-in charging infrastructure relies on extensive manual labor and occupies precious space in tight parking areas.

Expected to be operational by mid-2023, the four WAVE systems will power four Complete Coach Works (CCW) zero-emission propulsion system (ZEPS) buses, replacing the need for any plug-in chargers in the depot.

JCT operates fixed and commuter routes in the city of Grants Pass, and across Rogue Valley. In 2019, JCT began its zero-emission journey by purchasing two remanufactured ZEPS buses from Complete Coach Works.